Shimano is introducing a 2007 component group aimed straight at Bike Hugger’s heart. Alfine is a new internal-hub group, with 8 speeds, that includes a 3-watt dynamo in the front wheel, disk brakes, and very clean and pretty cranks.

It’s based on Shimano’s existing Nexus line, upgraded to promote very quick shifts. Instead of a twist group, it includes trigger shifting.

The group took one of Shimano’s two design awards at last week’s Eurobike trade show (the other went for the 3rd-generation XTR mountain bike group). This should be a terrific and reliable group for bikes intended for everyday transportation.

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Alerted by a reader, I just discovered that Treehugger gave us a big hug today. Nice! And thanks, much appreciated… now I’ll get a cup o’ Joe and start responding to the comments and emails. If you’re interested in learning more about Bettie, our project to build a sport-utility bike built with a Karate Monkey 29-incher frame, Stokemonkey, and Xtracycle check the tags, galleries, and video posts

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Pam and I rode Bettie to dinner last night and the highlight, besides the romance of riding a bike together, was no parking stress. We rolled up to the new Cactus restaurant without the usual parking search on Alki, ate dinner, and rode back. We took turns sitting on the SnapDeck, used a light in the dark on the way back, and relaxed.

The ride to dinner was one of 6 trips/errands over the weekend that we did without a car and that’s the most liberating thing about Bettie and sport-utility bikes. We’re not stuck in traffic, sitting in a car, wasting our time.

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Switched the Stokemonkey setting to high-mode today on Bettie and flew up Admiral Way for a morning coffee run to Metropolitan Market. The high setting was like having an extra leg, Armstrong’s leg in fact, when you consider the Stokemonkey is putting out 430 watts at a cadence of 80!

I grabbed the coffee, more groceries, loaded Bettie’s FreeLoaders, and headed back home by way of Schooner Exact, where I tasted their latest pale ale. To make sure I condition the battery properly (as Todd told us), I flipped the switch back to low mode and cruised up the hills back home.